Comets blast seven past Capitals

DUNDEE Comets kept their hopes of lifting the Scottish National League title alive with a vital 7-1 win over visitors Edinburgh Capitals on Saturday evening.

The game started with both sides playing a tentative, defensive game to the end of the first period without any scoring.

The middle stanza got under way and was only five minutes old when Man-of-the-Match Callum Hill put the Dundee men ahead after a great move by Andrew Henderson and John Gordon.

The Edinburgh outfit pulled one back on the 40-minute mark when Joel Gautschi netted the equaliser.

However, 12 seconds later, Gordon combined with Hill and Michal Beca to regain the lead.

A Comets powerplay led to Henderson firing home the safety cushion, which led to the start of a scoring frenzy that saw the home side score five goals i n six minutes through further strikes from John Dolan, Beca and 16-year-old Charlie Scott.

Dundee goalie Matthew Michie conceded only one goal with 30 shots coming his way during the game.

Comets now sit third in the table with games in hand on those above and below.

On Sunday, reigning U/14 league and Scottish Cup champions Dundee Stars defeated visitors Lanarkshire Lightning 9-1.

But the home side had to be patient against a much-improved Coatbridge outfit as the first period ended scoreless.

Dundee forward Jack Hutton finally broke the deadlock three minutes after the restart but the visitors stunned the home side when, despite being under massive pressure, they snatched an equaliser 30 seconds before the interval.

After only a minute of play in the final period, Garry Kelly grabbed the go-ahead goal, which he followed up a minute later with his second of the day.

Further counters from MOTM Lachlan McMillan, Ben Brown, Steven Innes, Kelly and Stephen Scott finished off an eight-goal thirdperiod blitz.

Meanwhile, Dundee Tigers kept their winning run going with a hardfought 3-1 away victory against Moray Typhoons.

Paul Guilcher, Mark McLeod and Callum Turnbull were on the mark for the visitors, with Theo Kynoch collecting the MOTM award.

A Tigers spokesperson said: “It’s always good to get a result up in Elgin as it’s one of those rinks where anything can happen.

“As expected this was a tight, physical game with a couple of flash points.

“We got ourselves in front and played a really solid team game to get the win.

“We’ve got a couple of banged up bodies due to the nature of the game but, hopefully, we can get everyone fit for this weekend where we can hopefully continue our run of form.”